Clockwise from left: Jill Ziegler, Megan Schettler Schug, Katy Merriman and Chris Ragner have a meeting in '9 to 5: The Musical.' / Steve Gibbons/Special to the Register

Written by

‘9 to 5: The Musical’

WHEN: 7:30 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday through April 14. No shows March 29 and 31. Preshow talks begin in the lobby 30 minutes before each performance, and on Fridays and Saturdays audiences can stick around the lobby for live music by Playhouse performers. WHERE: Des Moines Community Playhouse, 831 42nd St. TICKETS: $20-$35 for adults, with discounts for seniors, students and groups. INFO:www.dmplayhouse.com

More

ADVERTISEMENT

In Dolly Parton’s bouncy title song for the “9 to 5” movie, the actors “tumble outta bed and stumble to the kitchen” to pour themselves “a cup of ambition, yawnin’, stretchin’, tryin’ to come to life.” If you saw it, you’ll remember Jane Fonda hustling to her first day on the job, where she reports to Lily Tomlin.

But in the musical version at the Des Moines Community Playhouse, the actors take a while to wake up and, for all their hard work, only rarely spring to full life. The show may be the only thing Parton ever created (with co-writer Patricia Resnick) that needs more gumption.

To be fair, though, director John Viars never set out to re-create the movie for the stage. A Broadway production tried to do that in 2009 and sent a national tour to the Des Moines Civic Center the following year, with only so-so results. Instead, the Playhouse retells the ’70s tale of feminist revenge on new terms, with a glittery set like a funky old game show (Tim Wisgerhof), swanky polyester costumes (Angela Lampe), bustling office-worker choreography (Alison Shafer), and three actresses who make the secretary roles uniquely their own.

But of the three leads, only Katy Merriman (in the Parton role) seems to understand the show as the campy, over-the-top circus that it really is. Her Doralee flounces around the stage less like Parton than a long-lost sister from “Mama’s Family” and belts out her twangy song of self-explanation, “Backwoods Barbie,” with sassy charm. She may have “too much makeup and too much hair,” but “don’t be fooled into thinkin’ that the goods aren’t all there.”

The rest of the show has some goods, too, but they’re not quite good enough to turn the show into the sort of big-hearted, upbeat farce it could be.

It’s not high art, and it doesn’t say anything new about workplace discrimination, but it could be a lot more fun.

Ziegler has one of the show’s best singing voices, but it wore a little thin during “Get Out and Stay Out,” her second-act anthem of empowerment.

There are a few bright spots, though. Melissa Kellar’s office toady lights a fire for “Heart to Hart,” her passionate torch song for the boss, and Shawn Smith Jones sounds good as Violet’s shy suitor, smoothly complementing her in a tender duet.

The chorus sings well, too, even as it wheels around the set’s multiple moving parts.(Overall music direction is by Brenton Brown.)

So a promotion isn’t out of the question. But if the show wants to go from good to great, it’ll have to kick it up a notch before the run closes April 14.